Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Back in April 1999, Wired predicted that Apple [AAPL] would release an Apple iPad wireless handheld device. Although it was another 11 years before it launched, it’s still interesting to see that the name iPad was used and predicted as a device all them years ago.
The full sized image is after the break. [Read more…]
3D on the Sony Playstation 3 is coming soon. Official documents and guidelines however, reveal that the 3D gaming resolution will be limited to 720p for games.
Games that already run at full HD 1080p will also be downscaled to 720p. Both the left eye and the right eye will receive a 720p image. What this will do is allow a 60 frames per second rate to still be achieved. This has two benefits. The first is that the action will continue to be smooth. Also the higher frame rates allow for less eye-strain from what Joystiq reports. [Read more…]
SpaceShipTwo made it’s first flight with crew aboard recently. The ship was attached to Eve and departed from Mojave Air and Space Port for several hours so that a series of tests could be performed. SpaceShipTwo stayed attached to the mother ship for the whole flight and wasn’t released this time around.
Within the last month, four test flights were done with WhiteKnightTwo allowing pilots and crew to practice with the plane and test it.
Virgin Galactic, the company behind the development of SpaceShipTwo and private space tourism, says yesterday’s flight marked the first time SpaceShipTwo flew with a crew on board.
Zune users in the UK will soon be able to purchase a Zune Pass subscription service from Zune.net that allows users in the UK to stream music from the Zune.net service.
Price wise, a Zune Pass costs £8.99/month or £26.97 if you pay every three months. No savings are to be had by paying for 3 months up front.
By purchasing a Zune Pass in the UK you are entitled to download an unlimited amount of songs for the length of the subscription as well as have the ability to keep 10 tracks per month permanently. [Read more…]
AT&T has now launched the Samsung Captivate. The Captivate is a Samsung Galaxy S Class smartphone that runs a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird CPU. One of the main features of the Captivate is the Super AMOLED 4 inch screen that is used. The contrast is just amazing when looking at the screen and is one of the best screens available on a smartphone.
On the back of the Captivate is a 5 megapixel camera that is capable of capturing HD video. The Swype keyboard is included as standard on the device allowing for fast text input on the virtual keyboard. [Read more…]
Symbian released some source code for Symbian^4 recently and in doing so, quietly made some screen shots available that show what new features or changes have been made.
The changes show that the new OS and UI has a new iPhone/Android style status bar at the top of the page that is almost permanent. When we say “almost” we assume that some apps can go full screen. Just below the status bar is another bar showing comments on what is going on as well as what looks like the ability to switch between apps and jump back to the home page. This section will hopefully slide out when needed rather than being a permanent fixture as it takes up valuable screen estate for small screen devices. [Read more…]
BGR along with others managed to get hold of a Samsung Protoype Windows Phone 7 device to test for a week. The hardware it’s self will never be launched although the preview is for the software that will be running on it, Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft [MSFT].
The preview covers hardware briefly although it doesn’t cover the specific Samsung handset used due to it never being launched. The requirements though were mentioned which includes a 1GHz CPU, 3.7 inch 4 point capacitive multi-touch display, 5 megapixel camera, 3 hardware buttons, dedicated graphics chip and memory built in with no removable storage allowed. Microsoft are being strict on the requirements to ensure that the Windows Phone 7 experience is good on any approved device that runs it. [Read more…]
The FCC website was recently updated with new details about a Nook 3G (new model). No other details are provided on the FCC site other than that it has a new 3G chipset inside.
The model number of the new Nook 3G is BNRZ100-01 and appears to be a minor update that has the old 3G model removed and a newer improved model added. The new card to be found inside is the Sierra Wireless MC8201V locked in to data mode only. It supports the 850 and 1900 bands. [Read more…]
It is expected that Facebook will announce that it has passed the 500 million user mark later this week. Just over a year ago the company announced that it had reached a 250 million user base meaning that it’s pretty much doubled in size over the last year.
The growth rate is incredible and when detailed along side their images section of the site and the numbers of pictures uploaded each day, it’s just mind blowing. Early on this month, Facebook face detection was added and with that announcement we were told that 100 million pictures a day were uploaded to the social networking site. [Read more…]
RIM [RIMM] has responded to the iPhone 4 press conference that was held on Friday. The statement made was released by the co-CEO’s of the company who felt Apple [AAPL] had mislead customers by indicating the BlackBerry Bold 9700 had the same antenna problems that the iPhone 4 has.
The full statement is found below… [Read more…]
Apple [AAPL] held a press conference on Friday to discuss the iPhone 4 antenna problems that have been all over the internet since the launch last month. In the presentation Apple compared the iPhone 4 antenna to the likes of RIM [RIMM], HTC [TPE:2498] and Microsoft [MSFT] along with video demonstrations on how holding a smartphone from each of the above companies caused the signal to drop.
HTC hasn’t responded officially to the comments but did let the tech site Pocket-Lint know that the Droid Eris that was featured in the Apple presentation had a far lower return rate than the iPhone 4.
“Approximately .016% of customers,” Eric Lin, the company’s global PR and online community manager exclusively revealed to us before adding that “we have had very few complaints about signal or antenna problems on the Eris.”
Mixed in with the iPhone 4 antenna details today at the Apple [AAPL] press conference was some information relating to the launch date of the iPhone 4 in 17 more countries.
The next launch date is July 30 where 17 more countries will be able to get their hands on the iPhone 4. These countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. [Read more…]
